Xi Jinping arrived on Sunday May 5 in Paris, where Emmanuel Macron intends to advocate “reciprocity” trade and the search for a resolution to the war in Ukraine in the face of a Chinese president who continues to show his support for Russia.
Returning for the first time to Europe since 2019, the Chinese president organized his tour under the seal of diplomatic balance: after the state visit to France, which has been asking him for a year to use his influence to “bring Russia to its senses”he will travel to Serbia and Hungary, two countries that have remained close to Moscow.
“On the afternoon of May 5, local time, President [de la République populaire de Chine]Xi Jinping arrived by plane in Paris to begin a state visit to France », announced the official Chinese television CCTV. He was welcomed around 4 p.m. by the French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, at Orly airport.
Commercial disputes
On Monday, Xi Jinping, who is coming to celebrate sixty years of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations, will continue meetings with Emmanuel Macron, who consulted in advance with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
In the morning, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will join the Franco-Chinese duo at the Elysée for a session which should raise the issue of trade disputes.
Threatened with being caught between the American and Chinese economies, massively aided by public authorities, the European Union has in recent months increased investigations into Chinese state subsidies to several industrial sectors, in particular to electric vehicles, accused of distorting competition.
“We must act to ensure that competition is fair and undistorted”said Ursula von der Leyen in a statement published overnight from Sunday to Monday. “China currently manufactures, with massive subsidies, more than it sells due to its weak domestic demand. This leads to an oversupply of subsidized Chinese goods, such as electric vehicles and steel, which leads to unfair trade”she accuses.
“Europe cannot accept such market-distorting practices which could lead to deindustrialization in Europe”, she insists. In previous discussions with the Chinese president, “I have made it clear that the current imbalances in market access are not sustainable and must be corrected”she adds.
“Contribute to a resolution” of the Ukrainian conflict
In the afternoon, after a formal welcoming ceremony with great pomp at the Invalides, and before a banquet at the Elysée, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping will meet face to face for the most political sequence, then will speak in front of the press. The French president intends to ask his Chinese counterpart to support the “Olympic Truce” For ” all “ conflicts during the Paris Games this summer.
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Paris wants to at least ensure that China, the main ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, does not fall into clear support for his war effort against kyiv; even “encourage him to use the levers” which it has in Moscow for “contribute to a resolution of this conflict”, according to the Elysée. Emmanuel Macron carried this same message a year ago during his own state visit to China, with modest results.
On Tuesday, the French president will nevertheless try to drive the point home, in the Pyrenees, during a more personal getaway between the two men, accompanied by their wives. The objective of this lunch on the Col du Tourmalet, where, as a child, he spent his holidays with his grandmother, is eminently diplomatic: to break the imposing protocol to establish a more direct dialogue, particularly on Ukraine.
“We understand the upheaval that the Ukrainian crisis is causing for Europeans. China is not the origin of this crisis, nor is it a party or participant in it”declared Xi Jinping, in a column published in the columns of Figaro. “We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe, and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good avenues to resolve the crisis”he added.
On the sensitive issue of human rights, Emmanuel Macron says he prefers to discuss “disagreements” instead “behind closed doors”. Paris also did not want to prioritize the issue of Taiwan, even though it is at the heart of the strong tensions between the United States and China. Several hundred Tibetan activists gathered on Sunday at Place de la République in Paris to denounce China ” a predator “ And “a colonial regime”. “No to Chinese totalitarianism”could we read on a banner.